Within the United States, there are a number of network access providers (also referred to as long distance carriers or network carriers). For the consumer market, each of these carriers offer different long distance service plans. In addition, these plans vary often weekly or monthly as each of the carriers tries to gain a greater market share of the consumer long distance market. Often the proposed service plans are tailored to fit only certain call habits of consumers. In addition, the introduction of a new plan often provides service at a lower price for some fixed period of time, for example a month. Not only do these service plans change on a continuous basis, but these service plans require careful reading and the use of these service plans requires careful attention to when calls are made in order to reduce the monthly charge under a particular service plan.
It is known in the prior art to have devices that monitor the amount of time spent on a given call and to estimate the cost of that call based on simple parameters. The problems that exist however for the average consumer is choosing service plans on an ongoing basis and determining when to place calls to obtain the maximum economic advantage under the chosen service plan.